


Just Breathe

by thewoodwork



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Aurors, Hogwarts, M/M, Magical Artifacts, Ministry of Magic, Open Ending, Post-Hogwarts, Wizarding World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:05:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1733810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewoodwork/pseuds/thewoodwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hogwarts is under attack and Auror Styles must do everything in his power to make it to his target before the enemy does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> If you couldn't tell already, I have a deep fascination with the Wizarding word – within and outside of Hogwarts – and I love to explore it. Any mistakes are my own - but I did my research so there shouldn't be too many when it comes to the universe itself. I took a few liberties in the fact that this is set after Voldemort’s fall and therefore in a time in which we don’t have that much information about.
> 
> Don’t let the word count fool you – it’s an action packed little fic. What did I tell you? All I know how to write are Hogwarts, Wizarding AUs
> 
> This was a bit different to what I've done before and I really enjoyed writing it, I hope you enjoy reading it.

Harry grunted, bracing himself for the impact of the red spell hurtling his way. It hits, throwing Harry back several feet into the air. A stunning spell then, albeit a weak one, but it was enough to knock the breath out of his lungs anyway. He landed in a roll, getting to his feet as gracefully as he could to resume running towards his target.

“On your left!” He called out to the person just ahead of him, already diving to the right to avoid the attack himself. The person in front of him, only a shape in the darkness, heeded his warning and dove, firing a spell back towards their attacker.

The person, still shrouded in a darkness that Harry couldn’t blink away, grunted his thanks, only pausing briefly to help Harry up before running down the corridor in the opposite direction.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, the effect of not being as lucky evading an attack earlier in the night, Harry ran towards the attacker again, ignoring the voice in the back of his head telling him to _run the other way._ Breathing heavily, Harry wordlessly and quickly threw up a shield to his left as another stunning spell came his way. He was better prepared this time, using the shield to hide behind before taking off again.

He found shelter, though a poor one, in a pile of ruins that looked like it was once one of the many statues lining the halls of Hogwarts. He felt briefly remorseful, knowing that it was very likely that one of his own spells had caused similar damage throughout the castle tonight.

Shoving the feeling down, Harry remained in his crouched position for another minute before he decided that it was time to move. Throwing up another, larger, protection spell, he dove from behind the rubble and took off running.

He was only on the second floor, despite being in the school for several hours already. He was trying to make his way through the castle without being seen, refusing to use the well-loved and crowded moving stairs. He would be able to get to his target a lot faster if he’d just followed the masses and made his way up the stairs and to his destination; however, he knew that it wasn’t an option, despite how much he wanted to make sure his team was safe.

“Come out of hiding, you bloody coward!”

Harry flinched at the roar that came from his attacker. Harry wasn’t usually one to run from a fight, throwing up shields left and right without firing any spells back, but he didn’t have a choice today. He had his orders, from both Payne and the higher ups, and he needed to follow through. He didn’t have time to be dealing with the lowly members the organization behind today’s assault.

Without making a sound, Harry made it to the end of the hallway and skidded to a halt. There was two options from here that he could take. To the left he had the staircases that would take him all the way up to the floor he needed. To his right were the stairs that would simply take him to the third floor. His wand twitching in his hand nervously, Harry took the cautious root and began his climb up to the third floor. If he had taken the stairs that led all the way to the sixth floor he would have risked his attacker following him and knowing exactly what Harry was after.

Once at the third floor, Harry cast a glance down the stairs and saw that the attacker was indeed following him, throwing poorly aimed stunning spells Harry’s way.

This guy really needed to learn a few more spells if he was ever going to win a fight against an Auror.

“Eat shit, mother fucker!”

The man, like the other attackers, was from North America. The group was a mix of Americans who had crossed the border to England after years of peace to cause chaos across the countries of Europe.

The ministry of magic that operated America wasn’t quite as regulating and strict as the ministry that Harry knew so well. The extremist group had slipped between the American’s fingers and the rest of the world was left to clean up the mess.

At first, the intentions of the group had not been clear. They attacked seemingly random locations and destroyed nearly everything in their path. It soon became clear though, that the group was targeting extremely powerful, hidden magical artifacts that the most powerful witches and wizards of time had created. There was a reason they were hidden, usually by the creators themselves, and yet the lust for power drove the group to extreme lengths to find them. 

The Department of International Magical Cooperation was having a field day, trying to get a handle on what was happening all over the world. Harry knew a few people in that department, casual friends from when he was in school, and he wasn’t jealous of what they had to go through the past few weeks. They hadn’t stopped complaining about the work load now on their desks. Tensions between the countries were high, each shooting blame at each other. The department feared a war might be on their hands if something wasn’t solved quickly.

The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes was by far the busiest of all of them. Harry witnessed members of that department on a daily basis being sent out to new locations to use memory charms on dozens of muggles as the American group left disasters in their wake. The Americans had no regards for innocent muggle bystanders when they found a new location to target. The risk of muggles learning about the wizarding world was getting worse and worse as time went on.

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry’s own department within the ministry, was fighting to get control over the Americans and fight back. The American ministry had been unsurprisingly useless when helping capture the group, stating that they were no longer America’s problem. The Aurors had been tasked with missions to get to locations the Americans were attacking before they were even being attacked, and that is exactly why Harry was running down the hall to lose his attacker.

They’d gotten word that Hogwarts was going to be attacked only a few hours ago and dozens of teams of Aurors, including Harry’s own, were sent to protect the school.

A laugh startled Harry out of his thoughts, putting him on his guard immediately. “Seriously? You couldn’t catch a scrawny kid like him?”

Swivelling on his feet, Harry searched for the voice. “They must be recruiting just about anyone here, such a shame. I remember the Aurors used to be something feared.”

Not rising to the bait, Harry cast a wordless spell, silencing his footsteps. His original attacker had caught up to Harry and he was looking a bit more…murderous than before. “He’s quick on his feet. Fuck off, Smith. I’ve got this.”

“Not sure you do,” Harry saw the second person at last, the man was taller than the first attacker, and more solidly built. He looked to be in his late thirties, had a scruffy beard that was already peppered with gray hairs and a big belly that rivaled Harry’s cat.

He had his wand out and was looking straight at where Harry was hiding. Poised to dive out of the way, Harry pointed his wand down the hall and braced himself for the attack, recognizing that this person was stronger than the first, more of a challenge to fight. There was an essence of dark magic radiating off of him.

“I do, now _fuck_ off.”

Smith didn’t look impressed, a raise of the brow and a twitch in his cheek giving away his otherwise unemotional expression. “Hurry up and finish him off. We have orders, Collins, in case you’d forgotten.”

“I hadn’t forgotten,” Collins snapped, firing another stunning spell towards Harry.

“You’re going to need something a little stronger than that, you idiot.”

“I was doing just fine before you came along!”

Harry held back the urge to laugh at the Americans as they were no longer paying him any attention, too busy arguing with themselves to notice him slip into the shadows and back down the hall.

Once a safe distance away, Harry broke into a sprint towards the next set of stairs held at the opposite side of this floor. The third floor had been surprisingly untouched, there looked to be minimal damage compared to other places within the castle. Racing his way up the stairs, Harry made it to the fourth floor with no one behind him only to be met with chaos.

The fourth floor was in stark contrast to the third and Harry had to dive out of the way as a bright orange spell hit where he had been only moments before. Grunting in surprise, Harry rolled to his feet again and fired a powerful stunning spell back at his attacker. It was blocked, but it was only a moment before Harry had shot a second one. This one hit.

The American was blasted backwards, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch, and Harry was left to weave his way through the other Aurors and Americans on this floor. One of his teammates would be on this floor if things had been going according to plan. Payne had been directing them on the first floor, sending each of the members in his team in different directions with different tasks to complete. He had trusted Harry with the most difficult, knowing that Harry excelled in stealth and collection.

Horan had been sent with Harry to protect him but they were split up early on, unable to keep up with each other as they navigated the halls. Harry was almost glad that they’d separated, he was better left on his own for this. Worrying for a teammate in a situation like this only slowed him down and made him sloppy.

Tomlinson, their medic and best with handling children, had been sent to meet up with the teachers and help protect the students left in the school. Most of the students were in the Great Hall, but those that weren’t were to but rounded up and escorted to the Hall by him when it was safe.

Malik, their strongest fighter aside from Payne, was sent into the middle of the chaos and fight against the large number of Americans throughout the school. Seeing as the fourth floor was full of both Aurors and Americans, Harry had a good guess that this is where he was.

Payne himself was left to organize and do what he did best, keep people calm and focused. He had quickly become the unofficial leader of all the Aurors sent to Hogwarts that night.

Harry, now on the fourth floor, was left to weave through the rubble and bodies littering the floor, all of which Harry refused to look at, in fear of seeing someone he knew. He knew better than to let himself be distracted with concerned thoughts for his teammates but it was the one thing he didn’t know how to shut off. There would always be the thought in the back of his mind.

“H, down n’ up!” Came the very familiar yell of his teammate and Harry reacted on instinct, knowing what Zayn wanted him to do. Harry rolled forwards, avoiding the spell that had shot over his head. Once out of the roll, Harry shot to his feet and aimed, shouting out an offensive spell that sent the attacker onto his back. 

“Thanks, Z.” Harry called, despite knowing that his teammate probably hadn’t heard. Harry didn’t have time to look for Zayn, he barely had time to breathe, trying to get out of the thickest area of fighting. This was exactly where he was supposed to be avoiding, and yet here he was, casting a number of defensive spells around him as he fought his way through.

He let out a relieved breath once at the other side, casting one last offensive spell at the American blocking his way before making his way up to the fifth floor. Almost there, only one more floor after this one and he’d be close to his target. He hoped.

Their Intel told them that their target was on the sixth floor, but there was still a high chance that the information was wrong and Harry would have to start all over again, searching the school top to bottom. Harry really hoped that it was, because the longer that the American’s were here the more likely that they too would find the artifact. It was Harry’s job to make sure he found it first.

Harry ran onto the fifth floor, having taken the stairs two at a time, but soon skidded to a halt as he froze and saw over a dozen wands pointing his direction. He was about to fire back when he stopped and noticed that they were students, every single one of them.

“Whoa!” Harry held his hands out, “I’m not one of them. I’m an Auror.” The students looked wary, one or two of them lowering their wands, but there were still dozens of wands pointing his direction. The students looked like a mix of years, most from Ravenclaw but there were a few Gryffindors scattered throughout.

“H?” Harry whipped his head around, relaxing incrementally when he saw Louis staring back at him.

“Hey, L.”

“Kids, put your wands down. He’s okay, he’s a friendly.” It was only with this that the students lowered their wands and went back to guarding the staircases instead of aiming at Harry.

Louis walked quickly up to Harry and pulled him into a brief hug. “Haz, what’re you doing here?” He hissed, holding Harry against his side. “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere _else?_ ”

Harry nodded, sinking into Louis’ warmth for a moment before straightening out and getting back into a defensive position. “I’m getting there,” He admitted, “I’ve only got one more floor to go, it’s been tough making it up here undetected.”

Louis nodded, guiding Harry through the students and to the other set of stairs. “You have it handled?” Louis asked, concern written all over his face. Harry had the most dangerous job today, the whole team knew it. “Where’s N? I thought he was supposed to be with you?”

“He was, we had to separate.”

Louis hummed, biting on the edge of his lips. “I could-“

“No, you’re staying here, Lou.” Harry cut him off, knowing exactly what Louis had been about to offer. “I’m good, take care of the kids.”

He look he got from Louis was unimpressed, but Harry ignored it to press a kiss to Louis’ cheek. “I’ll be good, I can take care of myself. You know that.”

Louis nodded, slightly mollified. “Be safe.”

“Always am.”

With one last glance behind him, Harry was taking the last set of stairs double time, not letting himself mourn over the fact that having Louis’ support at his side was exactly what he wanted right now. The two of them were an unstoppable force when teamed up, finishing their missions together with speed and efficiency. They rarely failed, and Harry had no doubts that with Louis beside him he’d be able to conquer anything. Today though, the students needed Louis more than Harry did, and Harry was left ascending the stairs alone.

Harry arrived to silence on the sixth floor, it was in heavy contrast to the last two floors he was on and he froze in automatic response, all of the instincts driven into him since the first day of Auror training kicking in. This silence was heavy, everything feeling muted and sluggish. There was magic in the air, powerful and dark.

Harry took incremental movements to prepare himself for what’s to come. He wasn’t alone on this floor. With long, calming breaths, Harry slid into the shadows, avoiding the moonlight streaming through the windows.

“ _Confringo_!” Harry ducked, bringing his arms up and around to cover his neck as the window beside him exploded into millions of shattered glass pieces.

“ _Confringo!_ ”The window on Harry’s other side exploded too, followed by all the others down the hall way, one by one, leaving shattered glass everywhere he looked. Due to the stupid amount of times the witch had yelled out her spell instead of learning non-verbal spells, Harry was able to pinpoint where the woman was.

_Confundo!_ Harry cast silently, pointing his wand towards the witch. The spell hit and Harry let out a sigh of relief, firing a binding spell a moment later to restrict the witch from casting any more spells.

Harry made his way to her, as silent as he could, and stood above her frozen body. Her eyes, albeit a bit dazed from the confundus charm, were staring right at him, unblinking. He hated to do it, to block so many of her senses, but he casted the conjunctivitis curse anyway, blinding her temporarily.

Stepping over her, Harry wondered if she was the one to cast the dark spells shrouding the hallway. The place seemed otherwise empty, but Harry was still left with an uneasy feeling prickling at the back of his neck.

Wand at the ready, Harry turned the corner and cast lumos, keeping the light as dim as possible with the colour resembling the moonlight. The floor beneath him was damp, the windows over here having already broken and had the rain misting through.

There was a sudden blur of movement in front of him and on instinct, Harry cast three spells. _Impedimenta! Silencio! Incarcerous!_ With a muted thump, the body hit the ground, bound by thick ropes.

Harry didn’t stop to see who it was he bound, he only knew that it wasn’t someone he knew. The Aurors all had indicators on them, to know exactly who was a friendly on the battle field. This person was an enemy.

Harry was about to move forward when suddenly there was a vicious looking mutt in front of him, growling and snapping its jaws at Harry. Startled to see a dog here, Harry became suspicious. It was only seconds before Harry noticed the tic, the strangely clear and focused gaze that the dog had.

The dog wasn’t a dog at all, but an animagus.

Before the witch or wizard could leap onto him, Harry did to it what he did to its friend with just as much speed. Before he left, he cast the spell that reverted an animagus to its original form and watched as a blond man appeared before him in non-descript robes and no signs of allegiance. Harry had no way to know if this man was American or someone else altogether.

Taking a steadying breath, Harry moved away from the bound bodies on the floor and continued his search. According to his higher ups, the artifact should be behind a secret door that is heavily guarded with magic. They had mentioned that it was similar to the way the Philosopher’s stone was hidden back when Harry Potter was in school. It would be guarded by spells cast by powerful wizards. It wasn’t impossible to get to, but it wouldn’t be easy.

It was now that Harry wished he had Louis here with him, Louis would know what to do, he always knew what to do around now during one of their missions. He would probably say something to lighten the mood and end up directing them just where they needed to be. Harry had never felt so alone in his life.

Harry drew up his courage, straightening himself out, and continued down the corridor. He could do this, he knew he could. Every aching moment of training and experience over the years of being an Auror were coming to a head. As he paced through the halls, it wasn’t long before he knew. He turned his head, having walked past this spot several times already. Something was out of place, something that hadn’t been here when he was at school all those years ago.

That painting hadn’t been there before, that painting didn’t even have anything moving in it. It was completely still, very similar to how a muggle painting would be. Staring at it, Harry wondered if this is what he was looking for.

He brought his wand towards the painting, hesitating slightly, before dragging his wand along the edges. It wasn’t long, with careful prodding, before the painting sprung to life, opening a passage to darkness.

Harry didn’t hesitate this time, keeping his wand at the ready as he moved into the darkness and let it wash over him.

It wasn’t long before the long, dark corridor ended and he was brought to a small room with a statue blocking the exit. He’d seen something similar to this in training, strangely enough, the statue looked very familiar. If Harry remembered correctly, the statue wouldn’t let you pass, but it also could not be fought. The key to getting past this immoveable force was an exercise in patience.

So Harry waited, and waited, watching the statue and settling in for what could possibly be a long wait. It was nearly a quarter of an hour before the statue moved slightly, its hands moving towards its head and its face scrunching in what looked like pain.

More often than not, this kind of statue wanted you to prove your magical ability by casting spells, but not the spells you would expect. Charms were more often than not the spells that unlocked the statue.

Harry brought his wand forward and cast a healing charm on the statue, aiming for the head.

He didn’t have to wait long before the statue moved again and into a new position. This time its mouth was open as if it was screaming, but no sound came out.

Harry pondered over it a moment before deciding on the companion spell to Silencio, the spell with the power to release its counterparts effects. It worked, and Harry watched as the statue moved again, this time standing ram-rod straight, looking as if it was bound.

Harry bit his lip, quickly casting _Relashio_ and watching as the statue relaxed, finally moving aside. With a sigh of relief, Harry moved forward into the next room.

The next held a sight that Harry never thought he’d see. In the middle of the room stood a creature with the body of a lion with great big paws and a long tail. Its head, however, was not a lion’s head, but a woman’s instead.  It turned its head to follow Harry as he cautiously entered the room. He’d heard about this kind of task being a part of the Goblet of Fire every few iterations, there was even a rumour that Harry Potter himself had crossed paths with a Sphinx in his own task but nothing had ever been confirmed. Not many focused on the little details about the most recent, and last, Goblet of Fire after which Voldemort came back.

Harry waited politely as its gaze followed him as he stepped closer.

“ _I have two riddles for you before I let you pass. Are you ready?”_

“Yes.”

_Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?_

Harry stood there, pondering over the possible answers before figuring it out, grinning he said, “You are fire.”

“ _Correct. Next Riddle”_

_Always wax, yet always wane: I melt, succumbed to the flame. Lighting darkness, with fate unblest, I soon devolve to shapeless mess._

This one, Harry will admit, took him a lot longer. It wasn’t until he started thinking about the previous answer that it came to him. “Candle! You’re a candle.”

“ _Correct, young wizard. You may pass.”_

He was generally pretty good at riddles, lucky for him. It always amused him to watch someone, particularity Louis, struggle over the answers for hours upon hours. Before he went into the next room Harry laughed over the memory of when he had given Louis a riddle and it had taken his partner weeks to solve it. He’d refused to let Harry or anyone else give him the answer. He’d eventually solved it, but not before driving everyone around him crazy.

Shaking himself out of it, Harry moved forward and into the next room only to immediately skid to a halt. The massive room was full of water with no sign of the bottom. Gulping, Harry eyed the murky water nervously, wondering what could be inside. There could be anything from mermaids to water demons and everything in between. He’d never been too fond of magical creatures that lived in water.

Harry stood there for a while, trying to figure out a game plan. He needed to cast a bubble charm to breathe, that much was certain, but once underwater he was nearly defenseless. He’d need to use his wand to propel himself forward, leaving any spells that he could defend himself with coming potentially too late.

“Bugger…” Harry muttered, bracing himself for the cold. He jumped in.

Harry broke the surface, gasping on instinct despite never having inhaled any water. He was trying to ignore the strange feeling the air bubble around his mouth left, he’d never liked these things. It always felt like they were going to pop.

Harry floated on the surface of the water for a few moments, taking in his surroundings. He’d gotten a quick look underwater when he’d dove in. The pool was filled with seaweed, offering hiding places for any creatures of the deep. He hadn’t seen any doors or windows on his way down, nothing that wasn’t hidden at least. It looked like he’d have to do some exploring or fighting for this challenge.

Taking a deep breath despite himself, Harry dove down into the water and began to propel himself towards the seaweed. Going slow, Harry looked for any obvious exits or creatures he’d have to fight.

There wasn’t any, and Harry was left swimming at the bottom of the pool for a full half hour with no advancement.

Harry was about to return to the surface when he felt something tighten around his ankle and he was being dragged down towards the bottom. Grunting in pain, Harry kicked out and fought against the force to no avail.

Suddenly, the pulling stopped and Harry was face to face with a mermaid. A _mermaid!_ Harry gasped, trying to swim backwards. Mermaids weren’t known for killing people, but in this situation Harry had no idea what to expect. However, the moment Harry moved he was dragged back to face the mermaid. Catching the hint, Harry stopped struggling and floated in front of the mermaid, waiting for something to happen.

_Answer me this._ The mermaid’s voice came, the look on his face impassive and blank. Harry nodded, mute and waited for him to continue.

_What do you fear the most?_

Harry’s first thought was _death,_ as it was something he was facing now and it terrified him, however, the more he thought about it the more he began to realize that it wasn’t true. He did not fear death, not to himself really.

“I fear losing my teammates. Losing the ones I love the most.” Harry answered honestly.

_Losing by death, or another matter entirely?_

Harry pondered the question, trying to find the right words to describe it. “I do not fear their death,” Harry admitted. “Death is inevitable and I don’t think it’s something worth fearing.

“I fear being left behind, or leaving them behind. I’m afraid of hurting them or causing any kind of pain. I don’t want to be left alone, and I don’t want them to be alone. Ever.”

_Good answer, Harry._

Harry didn’t have time to wonder how the mermaid could possibly know his name before he was being propelled at high speeds down towards the seaweed covered floor. There was nothing he could do as he crashed through an invisible wall and was falling towards a different, very solid and dry floor at high speeds.

The drop was long, giving Harry enough time to shoot his wand out and stop his descent. Harry was left floating a few feet above the ground, gasping for breath. Twisting around to look up, Harry saw that the ceiling is the floor of the last room. The mermaid passively looking at him from above. Shuddering, Harry released his spell and prepared to land.

Harry groaned, soaking wet, and rolled to his feet. This room was mirrors, every single inch of this room, asides from the ceiling and the floor, was a mirror. Unnerved, Harry glanced into each one, noticing that they were all a little different.

_What do you want above all else?_

Came a soft voice in his ear, a breeze in an empty room.

Harry turned towards one of the many mirrors, taking his time at each. In the first he stood in his Quidditch robes, holding a tournament cup with people surrounding him and cheering.

Shaking his head, he turned to the next and saw _the artifact._ Harry’s eyes widened at the reflection in the mirror. It looked exactly as he did now, only he was holding the artifact in his hand. Shuddering, Harry turned to the next and watched as he stood surrounded by his co-workers. He was the head Auror. One after the other, Harry saw himself in positions of power or glory. Until he came to one, about three quarters around the room.

It was him, and he was laughing. Beside him was Louis, staring at him lovingly, holding him close. On their other sides were their teammates and family. He saw Liam, Zayn, and Niall. He saw his sister and his mother, even his step dad. He looked on the other side and was happy to see everyone in Louis’ family too. The picture in the mirror made his heart ache.

“This…” Harry choked out. “This is what I want above all else.”

There was a sigh heard throughout the room, a brushing of wind across his face, and then Harry was standing in front of a beautiful woman. The woman had the artifact in her hands, presenting it to Harry.

Open mouthed, Harry took it, holding the handheld mirror tightly in his grasp. He could feel the magic pulse through his skin.

_You are worthy_

Before he could respond, Harry was suddenly felt a tightness surround him. It squeezed and it squeezed and Harry didn’t think he could handle it anymore. He screamed out in pain, clutching the mirror to his chest as he felt the world move around him.

The last thing he heard was a chilling:

_The ministry has been compromised, The Phoenix will guide you now._

He was still screaming in pain as the world stopped spinning. The artifact still clutched in his arms as he collapsed onto the ground. Coughing up blood, Harry scrambled to his feet and tried to figure out where he was.

There was a cacophony of sounds around him. His name being called out, his own screams echoing off the walls, the terrified screams of others. It was too much, he was being blinded by the overpowering sounds. Crying out, Harry tore away from the hands that had reached out towards him and he ran until he couldn’t anymore. When he came to proper consciousness he was in his old common room with no idea as to how he got there. The Hufflepuff common room was empty, and Harry was grateful for that as he made his way through it, still clutching the artifact to his chest.

He needed to get out of Hogwarts, now. The portkey in his pocket would take him back to the ministry, but he could no longer trust it there. The voice had said that it had been compromised. He needed to find the Order of the Phoenix.

-

The grounds outside Hogwarts are almost as chaotic as inside. Harry managed to get out of Hogwarts but not without being noticed. He’d heard his name being called by his friends, by _Louis_ , but he hadn’t stopped, he needed to get the artifact safe. He needed to get to one of the safe houses. His team could find him there, his team were the only people he could trust.

Harry wiped the dampness off his forehead as he ran down the pathway that would take him out of Hogwarts grounds. He needed to get to Hogsmeade so he could apparate out of the danger.

As he heard heavy footsteps behind him, Harry spun and threw up another shield to block any spells coming his way. The two American’s in front of him skidded to a halt, both starting intently at the mirror in Harry’s hand.

“Hand it over and we won’t kill you.” One said maliciously, hands twitching towards the mirror.

Harry gripped it tighter in one hand while throwing his wand up and shouting “ _Confringo!”_ The ground around the two American’s feet exploded into chunks of dirt and grass, distracting them long enough for Harry to break out into another run. Every few feet he threw up a shield, hoping that any spells coming his direction would be blocked. He’d nearly made it when a tripping spell made it past his excess number of shields and left him tumbling down the pathway to Hogsmeade.

With a groan, Harry rolled, keeping the mirror tucked safely under him. Merlin, he felt weak, the energy being sucked out of him with every movement he made. He would need to turn around and fight, there was no chance of outrunning his attackers at this rate. He’d never make it off Hogwarts grounds alive.

He got to his feet, turning to face his attackers and nearly cried with relief. His _team._ His team was currently firing spells at the Americans, sending them to the ground.

Harry choked out a relieved gasp and ran towards the four men rushing towards him. He threw himself into Louis’ arms, wrapping his arms around Louis’ neck and took in a deep breath. He only allowed himself a short moment, a wonderful and glorious short moment, before backing away and clutching the mirror to his chest.

“Guys… the ministry is compromised. I can’t take it back, I can’t take it back to the ministry. I have to go. I have to go.”

Louis took hold of his arms, steadying him as Harry nervously bounced where he stood. “Harry…”

“I’m sorry.” Harry managed to get out, kissing Louis on the lips quickly and desperately. “I have to find the Phoenix. Tell the ministry I’m MIA or KIA. Don’t...” Harry choked on his last words, drawing a surprised Louis in for another brief kiss. “I don’t want to lose you guys, stay safe.”

With that, Harry ran towards Hogsmeade, leaving four bewildered teammates in his wake. He could hear them all calling out for him, all of them but Louis.

Harry turned one last time to look at them all, smiling apologetically. “Stay safe.” He whispered, looking at each of them in turn. Liam looked like he wanted to run towards Harry and stop him, but he was restraining himself. Niall was surprisingly calm, only frowning as he watched Harry go. Zayn looked torn, his mouth open as if he wanted to yell at Harry for being an idiot – but he didn’t. They all seemed to understand.

Everyone but Louis who was now running towards Harry full speed, looking far too determined for someone who was supposed to let Harry go.

Shaking his head, Harry backed away, preparing to apparate out of there.

“No you don’t.” Louis skidded towards him, grabbing onto Harry’s hand with enough force to make him stumble. “Not without me.” Meeting Louis’ eyes, Harry nodded and spun in place with Louis’ hand grasped tightly in his. They apparate out of Hogsmeade together.

-

They hit the ground running, hands still grasped together tight. They’re about a mile outside of the safe house Harry had been thinking about. It wasn’t the one they were going to stay at, they were smarter than that, well aware that they could have been tracked here. At the not so safe house there were cleverly hidden portkeys, each taking them to an actual safe house they could trust. This was also one of the Ministry’s safe houses, they needed to get to one that their team had set up for instances like this.

As they ran, hands no longer clasped to improve speed, Harry felt the wariness he’d felt earlier settle over his bones. He was ready to collapse and he couldn’t figure out why. He was better trained to be tired from today’s excursions. He’d dealt with equally hard challenges and had been able to run on adrenaline for days. Apparently that source of energy had been sucked out of him, because it wasn’t long before he was dragging behind Louis, the older boy slowing down to keep them in step.

They made it to the house without incident, moving to gather the supplies they needed. Without needing to talk, Louis went upstairs to the bedrooms to grab general supplies that they would need if they couldn’t make it to another safe house. The kits were magically packed so that they held a lot more than the space of the bag. Harry moved towards the kitchen, grabbing the similar bags prepared full of food and water. They had no idea how long it was going to take to find the Order of the Phoenix so Harry grabbed as much as he could feasibly carry.

“Ready?” Louis was at the archway to the kitchen, looking as disheveled and tired as Harry felt.

Harry nodded, shouldering the bags and walking out of the kitchen and out of the house. All of the safe houses were guarded against apparition, Ministry regulations and all.

“Did you grab the portkeys?” Harry asked, turning to look back at Louis.

Louis nodded, slowly unwrapping the small object from its cloth. “I grabbed a few, for different safe houses, just in case.”

Harry smiled in relief, glad that Louis was here with him. “Let’s go.”

They grabbed the portkey together and they vanished.

The two of them landed outside one of the safe houses in buried in thick woodlands. It was one of Harry’s favourites. Once they got in, Harry fell onto the couch with a groan, curling into the pillows for comfort.

He felt a dip in the couch, and then Louis’ hand was running through his hair. “You’re going to have to tell me soon, what happened tonight.”

“I will.” Harry promised, squeezing his eyes tight. “I’ll tell you everything.” He whispered.

“Haz, I think you should let go of the mirror. I think it’s draining your energy.” Harry startled, not having realized it was still clutched tightly in his hands. “Harry, can you please give the mirror to me?”

Harry shot up off the couch and nearly hit his head on Louis’ forehead. “No, no don’t touch it. It might hurt you too.”

Louis held up his hands in defeat, seeming to realize that Harry wouldn’t budge on this. “Okay, but can you at least put it down?”

Harry nodded, shifting on the couch so he was sitting up. He over to the coffee table next to him and hesitantly placed the artifact on the table, finally letting go.

As soon as he released it Harry felt the weight of everything suddenly off his shoulders and he sighed in relief. “Oh thank Merlin, finally.” He sighed, sinking back against the couch again.

“Good, that’s good.” Louis murmured, running his hands up and down Harry’s arms in comfort. “I’m going to go put up the protection wards, okay?”

Harry mumbled in response, watching Louis do the responsible things that Harry should have done the moment they got here. Guiltily, Harry got up and helped Louis put the finishing touches up before preparing a meal for them. “Do you feel like breakfast or dinner?” Harry asked, rummaging through their supplies. They hadn’t gotten to eat either, and now that day was breaking Harry had to wonder what they were supposed to eat.

“Let’s just do breakfast, yeah?” Louis said, grabbing a teabag out of one of the packages. “Eggs and toast, or something.”

Harry nodded, getting to work. There was only so much he could do with powdered milk, powdered eggs, and bread that looked like it was a year old. They were lucky that magic was able to preserve a few things, but Harry wasn’t sure he even wanted to risk it.

Once they were settled at the table and eating, they finally began to talk.

Harry tried to explain everything from the moment they’d been separated by duties. Louis nodded along, listening as Harry recounted how he’d fought against different witches and wizards as he’d gone from floor to floor. He glossed over when he’d seen Louis again, and jumped to what happened up on the sixth floor. He struggled over explaining the painting, the statue and the Sphinx with the riddles inside.  He shuddered as he remembered the mermaid and the fear that had filled his heart as he’d been dropped down several stories into the room with the mirrors. He explained what he’d admitted to the mermaid before the fall and what the voice had asked him in the room of mirrors. His eyes must have glazed over as he explained each and every mirror and the vision inside. Visions of power and greed, lust and want.

“I saw us in one of them. All of us.” Harry blushed, still seeing the image clear in his mind. “There was me and you, acting like our…usual selves.” There was something more to it, there had been no simple friendship between the people in the mirror. There’d been something more.

“I saw us, I saw our team.” Harry smiled. “I saw my family and your family. We were all so happy.”

Louis smiled at him, encouraging him to continue. “So I told it, I told the voice that I wanted nothing more in the world than what was in that mirror. It said I was worthy and I was given the artifact…but then as I was being transported out of there, it said one last thing. It said that the ministry was compromised and that I needed to find the Phoenix. That the Phoenix would guide me.”

Louis frowned, “I thought the Phoenix had disbanded after Voldemort’s defeat.”

“Maybe they didn’t.” Harry whispered, unconsciously tapping his finger against Louis outstretched hand. “Maybe we need to find them.”

“Where could we possibly start?” Louis muttered, running a hand through his hair. “We can’t exactly walk up to Harry Potter and ask him about it. We’re MIA to the ministry now.”

Harry nodded, grabbing Louis’ hand in his own. “We’ll figure it out, yeah?”

Louis sighed, fondly looking at Harry despite how tired he was. “Yeah, we always do.”

They crawled into the master bedroom bed soon after that, having finished both their talk and their breakfast in a hurry so they could rest.

There was still something hanging in the air between them, but Harry silently resolved to leave it until they were better rested.

-

Harry woke up to the horrible inhale of smoke in his lungs. He choked out a gasp, rolling to his side to see Louis waking up nearly at the same time he was. Louis blinked blearily, as confused as Harry was. Before he could do anything, Harry grabbed him, rolling them off the bed like they would have if they’d been tussling around, and got as low to the ground as possible.

Louis grunted at the impact, despite being on top of Harry, and groaned softly into Harry’s ear. “What’s going on?”

Harry searched the room worriedly. The room itself wasn’t on fire, but the entire place was filled with smoke and he heard the crackle of flames coming from somewhere close. “We have to get out of here, now!” Harry raised himself to his knees, getting Louis to do the same before leading them towards the door. He fumbled for his wand, using a quick spell to clear as much smoke as possible before making their way through the archway and towards where the rest of their stuff was. As long as they could make it to one of their portkeys they’d be okay.

As they made their way through the smoke filled house, they soon realized that it wasn’t the house on fire, but the forest around it. Their magical alarms were going off, alerting them to the fact that they were no longer alone.

“Shit, shit, _SHIT.”_ Louis, evidently more awake now, was scrambling to get to their stuff. “Come on, Haz. We’ve got to go.”

Harry nodded, coughing at the smoke in his lungs before having an idea. “Bubble charm, Lou!” He called, pointing his wand at his own face to create the same mask he did the night before in the water. He watched as Louis did his own and breathed a sigh of relief now that they were no longer inhaling smoke.

Nodding to Louis, Harry shouldered two of their packs, motioning for Louis to take the others before reaching out to grab the portkey that would take them to their next safe house. “Shit!” Harry said before taking hold, thank Merlin, because he’d forgotten the most important thing of all.

_The mirror._

Harry ran into the living room and had to skid to a halt with his wand raised. He wasn’t the only one in the room.

“Louis!” Harry yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the sound of the crackling fire surrounding them. The house was heating up, it wouldn’t be long before the house was on fire too.

Louis ran into the room, nearly slamming into Harry’s back with his wand raised. He stood at Harry’s side, in a protective stance, and cast a quick stunning spell at the other man standing in the room. The person had been alarmingly close to the mirror that was still sitting on the side table beside the couch.

Taking Harry’s hand, Louis dragged them towards the mirror where Harry was able to grab it. “Come on, we really have to get going. Before someone else shows up.”

Sure enough, just after he’d said it, they heard a course of spells being yelled out from every direction, surrounding the house. Acting on instinct again, they dove to the ground, keeping each other close as the spells exploded above them. Glass went everywhere, the windows blowing out and blasting even more heat inwards.

“Oh god,” Harry coughed out, covering both his and Louis’ necks with his arms and body. Louis remained still under him, waiting for Harry to give the okay. “We need to apparate, Lou.” Harry said into Louis’ ear, still covering them from falling debris. “There’s no way we can get back to the portkeys now, there’s no chance in hell. We have to risk being followed until we can get somewhere safe again.”

Louis moaned, slightly in pain and slightly due to frustration. “Why in Merlin’s beard does this always happen to us, Haz?”

Harry laughed a bit, kissing the top of Louis’ head a bit rough and desperate, wondering the same thing. “Ready?”

“Yeah, do it.”

They got to their feet and within moments were gone from the burning house – and standing outside another safe house. This one was already burning to the ground.

“Oh _shit._ ” Louis, still holding onto Harry’s hand, was the one to turn on the spot this time and they were apparating somewhere new. They were in the woods again, but this time Harry knew that they were nowhere near a safe house.

“Oh the _fuck_ did they know about our safe houses, Lou?” Louis ran a hand through his hair, tightening it around the strands and pulling on them.

“That last one was a ministry one, I forgot.”

“Yes, but what about the first?”

“Maybe they tracked us there, or tracked the artifact? I don’t know, Haz.”

Harry worried his lip, chewing on it until he felt the tang of blood on his tongue. “Where do we go? We don’t have anywhere safe.”

Louis shook his head, pursing his lips. “Maybe one of our team safe houses is still safe, they can’t possibly know all of those.”

“But what if they track us again?”

“I’ve got a few spells that I learned recently.” Louis assured him, running his hand through Harry’s hair this time. “Anti-tracking and all that. Can’t believe I forgot to use them last night.”

“S’not your fault.” Harry said, sighing into Louis’ touch. “We were both exhausted.”

Louis grunted, not looking any better about it. “Still should have…”

“Come on, let’s go somewhere… anywhere.”

Due to the incident at the safe house, they were now without supplies. They had nothing but their wands, the clothes on their back, and the dreaded mirror that sucked the energy out of anyone holding it. Harry held the thing delicately now, touching it as little as possible. The two of them passed it back and forth, trading it whenever the other felt too tired to keep holding on.

They made their way through the woods, Louis assuring him that they were close to a small village he used to visit when he was a child. It was the first place he’d been able to think of. It was nowhere near any of their families and hundreds of miles away from all the safe houses they’d acquired over the years.

They reached the village in two hours, taking longer than intended because of the mirror. Trudging along, the two boys weaved their way through the crowds of people at the local farmers market, trying to find food that they could steal.

Neither of them liked the idea of stealing supplies, but it was officially their last option. There were no safe places to go and they were left without any money or food.

Harry watched as Louis walked down the market with stiff shoulders. They were still holding hands, in a silent agreement for in case they needed to apparate away quickly again. Louis’ hold on his hand was firm and yet showed none of the tension that Louis’ posture gave away. There was a gentleness there that Harry hadn’t been expecting.

Their plan was that Harry would use his natural charming self to distract the shop keepers while Louis used his long sleeves to hide his wand and use magic. They’d stolen a bag easy enough, but collecting food and clothes would cause a bit more of a challenge. Louis would be using a spell to vanish items and have them reappear in the bag. It was a number of spells that required a lot of concentration, something hard to have when surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a small town market.

“Let’s go to one of the quieter stalls,” Harry murmured into Louis ear, tugging him towards the quiet side of the market. “Get used to it, at least.”

Louis nodded, hand tightening around Harry’s as they made their way to one of the vegetable stands at the end of the market.

The vendor seemed pleased enough to see them, talking with Harry and not minding at all that Harry admitted to having no money on him. They felt even guiltier as they left, having successfully stolen a few things, when the vendor had given them both a pick of whatever they wanted for free.

They went through the market like this, saying they were just browsing, deciding on dinner or something of the like. The vendors were kind, talking to them excitedly about the town and welcomed them to it. When asked, they said they were on vacation together, on their honeymoon. They managed to get more free things this way, and by the end their bag was full of things both stolen and given to them.

Louis was tense for the rest of the day, barely talking to Harry as he sorted their new supplies. They couldn’t stay long, not wanting to risk harm to the small town, and so they decided to leave in the middle of the night after they had a chance to rest.

Louis had managed to steal a sleeping bag for them, but only the one. The task had been risky and they hadn’t wanted to do it again, especially with such an expensive item.

They slept in the forest that night, cuddling in the sleeping bag together for warmth, neither of them speaking a word other than quiet goodnights.

Louis was better in the morning as they packed up their meager supply of things. “Okay, I’ve reinforced out anti-tracking spells, we should be good to go.”

“Alright,” Harry sighed, using the river water to brush his teeth. “Where to?”

 “Maybe a nice beach somewhere in the tropics?”

Harry laughed quietly, desperately wishing they could. “Maybe when we’re actually on vacation next time.”

“Yeah… next time.”

-

They spent the next several weeks in a similar fashion to their first few nights. They went from place to place, slowly gathering enough supplies to survive off, and always moving. They never stayed in one place more than a few days in fear of being found. They were extremely careful, moving with precision and caution.

As they were trying to survive out on their own, they also made it priority to find people they trusted without putting them in danger while also looking for the Order of the Phoenix. They hadn’t gotten very far on the latter, but Harry was diligently working on the former.

The team had created a code word (more like a sentence) one day, just for the five of them, and they used that to finally send a message to Liam. The code sentence, when spoken in full, would reveal the writing on the parchment. Any other attempts to read the letter would cause it to burn and be lost forever. Harry tested it a half dozen times before renting an owl anonymously to send the letter to Liam.

The letter was short and to the point, a simple we’re fine, the artifact is safe, and we haven’t found the Phoenix yet.

There was no way for Liam to reply, so the boys had to hope that their letters were getting through to Liam.

It wasn’t until several months passed without incident that Harry and Louis considered contacting their teammates in person. To do so, Harry created a cleverly worded letter that revealed a location in which Harry and Louis would be in five days.

They used extreme caution, hoping that their letters had not been intercepted or figured out, and on the fifth day they waited for their friends to arrive.

Harry stood hand in hand with Louis, place to apparate to already in the back of his mind if needed. Both of them were incredibly nervous, Harry shaking his hair out of his eyes ever few minutes and Louis tapping his thumb on Harry’s repeatedly. If this went wrong they would be at loss for what to do. The past few months had been trying on them both and the boys where exhausted and ready to go home. They were both well aware that this meeting, even if it went well, didn’t mean that they were any closer to being able to go back home, but they both couldn’t help but feel happy at the thought of seeing their boys again.

They did have to wait long before they saw _someone_ appear, and it wasn’t their boys at all. Frustrated, Harry yelled out _Confringo,_ aimingnear where the person appeared. The person sprang back, eyes wide with his hands out in front of him.

“Whoa, wait!” He called, cursing as he tripped over the broken earth. “Don’t leave yet, the Phoenix sent me. _Liam_ sent me!”

Louis, who’d been about to turn on his heel to apparate away, froze and narrowed his eyes at the man below. “Who are you?”

“Neville Longbottom.”

Mouth popping open in surprise, both Harry and Louis froze. “Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, right?” Neville continued, “Your friends have been waiting for you. We hear you’ve been looking for the Phoenix?”

Harry nodded, feeling the tension in his gut release slowly.

“Well then I guess it’s time you followed me.”

-

Harry had assumed that when they got to where the Order of the Phoenix, they’d be rushed into a meeting with them to discuss what had happened. Instead, it took several days of waiting around the house for most of the Order members to gather.

Harry and Louis were left to catch up with their boys, learning of what was happening at the ministry.

“They’ve been very suspicious, tracking all of our movements after they learned of your disappearance along with the artifacts disappearance.” Liam told them once they’d all been reunited. They were sitting at the big oval table that the order used to hold their meetings. “That’s why none of us could come meet you yesterday, we couldn’t risk it.”

Harry nodded, slumped in his chair beside Niall. Louis was across from him, looking about as tired as he was. It was good to be back in proper houses with proper beds, but after spending weeks in a sleeping bag on the ground it would take a bit longer to get used to the overly comfortable beds again.

“Harry actually approached us soon after you two went off the radar, asking about the artifact and what happened that night. A few of his contacts from that night said that they’d seen us rushing after you.

“No one at the ministry believed us, especially since Louis went missing as well. Everyone was ordered to find you and bring you back immediately. You were almost as high priority as the Americans.” Liam shook his head in disgust.

“We refused to say anything and they even used veritaserum on us and threatened to fire us. We agreed to take the veritaserum because we honestly had no idea where you too had gotten off to. Keeping our jobs meant we had the chance to hide your tracks if needed, to protect you.”

 “It’s a good thing Liam convinced us all to work so hard on learning occlumency a few years ago too,” Niall broke in. “They tried their share of that on us.”

Louis pursed his lips at this, looking unhappy.

“You were very good, we and no one else were ever able to find a trace of you. A lot of Aurors were sent to the safe houses to look for you but most came up burned to the ground. Did you-“

“No, the Americans did that one.” Harry shuddered, curling deeper into his seat. “They nearly caught us on the first night, burning down the forest.” Harry and Louis exchanged glances, not liking the memory. Their clumsiness had resulted in them being without proper supplies for the rest of their excursion. They’d spent many nights complaining over that one when on the damp ground trying to sleep.

“Yes, we found a body in one of our safe houses. It was an American so we figured you two had been there.”

The evening wore on, Harry and Louis both filling in the gaps for their teammates where needed and being updated on everything that took place in the time they were gone.  

-

“Are we going to talk about it?”

Harry froze under Louis stare, feeling suddenly self-conscious about his movements. Harry busied himself with cleaning up their joint room, grabbing the clothes that Louis had thrown around the room over the past week. He knew exactly what Louis was going on about, but was too scared to turn around to face it. “What?”

“Harry…”

 “You think the rest of the order will finish their meeting soon?” Harry asked, throwing a few sweaters into a drawer and another into the laundry hamper. “They’ll call us in after that, right?”

Harry heard a heavy sigh behind him before Louis was pressed up against Harry’s back, head on Harry’s shoulder. “We should talk about it, Harry.”

_Why?_ Harry nearly asked. Why did they need to talk about it when things had been going so well before with ignoring it? He didn’t want things to change, or get weird. He wanted the two of them to remain being _Harry and Louis_ , he didn’t want a rift to form between them.

So Harry shook his head minutely. Keeping his gaze forward. “I don’t want to ruin things, Lou.”

“Why, why would things be ruined?” Louis begged, dragging Harry closer towards him. “Do you not… do you not want to-?”

As he started drawing his own conclusions, Harry felt Louis tense up and begin to pull away. Spinning, Harry gathered his courage and brought his lips to Louis’ quickly. Desperately.

Harry pulled back, searching for something in Louis’ eyes. Once he found it, he groaned out in frustration and threw all caution to the wind. He gripped the sides of Louis’ face and brought their mouths together again into a deeper, more emotional kiss.

The first time they’d kissed, Harry had been half out of his mind, exhausted, and about to leave Louis for who knew how long. After that there had been no chance to talk about the kiss, running from place to place with more important things on their mind. Now though, now there was no running from the feeling Harry had building in his gut as he kissed away the frown lines on Louis’ face.

Louis sighed happily into Harry’s mouth, wrapping his hands around Harry’s neck to drag him closer. Harry bit Louis’ lip softly, laughing into the kiss as he walked them towards the closest wall. Louis hit the wall with a thump and was smiling as used the wall for support as he deepened the kiss.

Harry would later be embarrassed at the moan he made when their tongues touched, tentative and sweet on Louis part, but for now he sank into it, savouring the moment. As the kiss went on, Louis lost his tentativeness and kissed Harry more like Harry had expected. There was a dominance there and a determination to make Harry weak in the knees.

Harry let Louis take the lead, enjoying the moment of peace in their otherwise hectic lives. Harry was silently kicking himself for holding back so many years, if this is what would have been waiting for him.

Taking Louis’ hand in his own, Harry led them away from the wall and towards their bed instead. He was dragged them down towards the soft blankets when they were wrenched apart by a soft knocking on the door.

Groaning, Louis dropped his forehead onto Harry’s collar bone and stayed there. The two of them remained silent, almost hoping that the person would go away.

“Guys?” Zayn’s voice came through the door. “The Order is looking for you.”

Louis laughed softly, using his forearms to raise himself above Harry. There was a dark, lustful look in his eyes that made Harry’s heart stutter. “Later, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Harry reached up to catch Louis’ lips for one last kiss. Without a doubt, they weren’t done here.

-

They’d seen Harry Potter around the ministry but it was another thing entirely to be in the same room with him and his family. Harry and Louis recognized most of the people in the room, many of them famous for their efforts in the recent wizarding war. All of them stared intently at Louis and Harry as they entered the room.

Swallowing the growing amount of acidic bile in his throat, Harry picked a seat and dragged Louis down beside him and waited for the meeting to begin. A few more order members filed in, including Ginny Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. The people sitting in this room alone had enough influential power to over throw a government if they were so inclined.

Once everyone was settled, the meeting began and the two of them told the Order everything they knew about the artifacts and the Americans, including their accounts as to what happened on the night of the attack. There were questions throughout, Harry and Louis both answering to their best abilities. Once they were finished the room was silent, taking all the information in.

Throughout the entire meeting, Potter watched the two boys silently, never saying a word. Once they had finished though, Potter was the one who took the floor.

“It took great bravery…” He said, looking between them. “To leave your families and team to do what you did for the greater good. It’s never an easy task, sacrificing the things you hold dear.” He paused slightly, looking around one last time. “The Order never disbanded, as you can probably tell. We’ve only been keeping low key in order to better protect those who need it.

“We became aware of the Americans very soon after their first attack, tracking their movements and attempting to stay even ahead of the ministry. The Ministry could never be trusted with powerful magic objects, so we made it our mission to track as many of them down to place further protection on them.

“We’re very grateful that you chose to trust the Phoenix instead of the Ministry and for that we have one question for the both of you. You don’t have to answer now if you don’t want to.”

There was another pause in which Harry and Louis exchanged curious glances, their hands held loosely together under the table.

“Will you, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, join the Order of the Phoenix and join us in tracking down both the artifacts and the Americans?”

“We will.” They coursed together without hesitation.

“Of course we will.” Harry said, standing up to shake Potter’s hand. “We would be honored to join you.”

“Good,” Potter smiled at them. “You and your teammates will be leaving in three days. We’re glad to have you join the order.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought.


End file.
